Image used for representational purpose only.
AMRELI: A leopard mauled an octogenarian to death in her home in Gujarat's Amreli district on Thursday night, a forest department official said on Friday.
Mongiben Baraia, a resident of Sarovada village of Jafrabad taluka, was sleeping when she was attacked by the big cat, the official said.
The leopard entered her home and held her by the throat resulting in her death, a Jafrabad range forest official said.
The octogenarian was alone at the time, he said.
Her family members who had gone out found her body upon returning home on Friday morning, he said.
After being alerted, forest officials reached the spot and set up cages in the village and its surrounding areas to trap the leopard.
The elderly woman's body was sent to a government hospital in Jafrabad for post-mortem, he said.
In recent weeks, the district has witnessed a spurt in leopard and lion attacks on humans that also resulted in a few deaths. Attacks by the big cats were reported from Liliya, Khambha and Savarkundla talukas of the district.
Early this month, a two-year-old boy was killed by a leopard in the district.
The toddler was sleeping in his hut at Katar village under Rajula range forest when a leopard grabbed him by the neck and dragged him into nearby bushes.
This came less than a week after a five-month-old boy was killed by a lioness at Khara village in Liliya taluka, while a three-year-old child died in a leopard attack at Karjala village in Savarkundla taluka of the district.
